EXIT BLADE ANGLE AND ROUGHNESS EFFECT ON CENTRIFUGAL PUMP PERFORMANCE

Exit blade angle and impeller surface roughness has a significant effect on the performance of a centrifugal pump impeller handling different viscosity fluids. In this paper, a three-dimensional flow simulation using Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations for the performance analysis of the impeller is reported. The analysis using water and viscous liquids has been accomplished for different flow conditions, exit blade angle and roughness values. Standard k-epsilon two equation model is used for the turbulent closure of steady incompressible flow. The investigation shows that the blade exit angle has influence on the head, shaft power and efficiency of the impeller for different liquids. Rise in head, increase in shaft power and decrease in hydraulic efficiency have been observed with increasing roughness.